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Saturday, September 20, 2008, 08:00
Plans for the site have just been submitted to Bristol City Council – 15 months after people living nearby won a campaign to prevent the Victorian building being flattened for housing.
Housebuilder Persimmon was successfully taken on by neighbours, who wanted the factory saved and given an alternative use.
Since then a new developer, Squarepeg, has bought the complex and produced a scheme featuring workshops, open space and cycle-related facilities, as well as homes.
Despite Squarepeg holding consultation sessions in the community before drawing up its final scheme, complaints have recently been made by users of the Bristol-to-Bath cyclepath that runs past the premises.
They have objected through various protest websites and collected a petition, claimed green space would be lost, raised concerns about increased traffic and accused the council of handling the proposed sale of a strip of land to the developers behind closed doors.
Cyclist Chris Hutt, 57, who lives in Clifton, also claimed it was an over-intensive development for the area.
But Councillor Abdul Malik, who represents Easton, said he did not want to see such arguments threaten the future of the site. He said: "There is an opportunity to have something really positive for Easton and we all need to get involved. I think there's some misunderstanding between what will happen and what some people think will happen. I've been approached by people with objections and I raised them with Squarepeg. I also had a meeting with Squarepeg on site, which I found really helpful.
"Compared to the previous proposal by Persimmon, this development is positive. I still do have some concerns about over-development and the impact it will have on such things as schools, but we have to look at what it will put into the community."
Mr Malik said the contribution of local people early on had helped shape the application but he thought there should be further consultation to address the latest concerns.
A planning inspector ruled in June 2007 against Persimmon's housing plans.
Campaigners, the Greenbank Chocolate Box Group, had pushed to keep the factory and use it partly for employment, calling leading Bristol architect George Ferguson as one of their witnesses at the planning inquiry. Mr Ferguson is now working with Squarepeg to include ideas from local people in the scheme. Plans include space for hundreds of workers, apartments in the factory, and the UK's first dedicated cyclist-friendly housing, where residents will have quick access to the track.
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